Surgical Mesh Fail: Stress Urinary Incontinence Surgery
A surgical mesh implant is a net-like medical device that reinforces weakened or damaged tissue. It has several medicinal applications, including heart stents and repairing abdominal hernias. Synthetic (man-made) materials and animal tissue are the primary sources of surgical mesh.
Mesh grafts are used to strengthen the weakened vaginal wall in cases of pelvic organ prolapse. A thin strip is often put in to support the urethra in cases of stress incontinence. Most often, those manufactured of synthetic polypropylene are used to treat pelvic floor disorders.
What is a transvaginal mesh implant?
Transvaginal mesh is a net-like material to reinforce and treat damaged pelvic muscles through surgical treatment.
Transvaginal mesh is so named because it is surgically placed via the vagina. Tape, sling, ribbon, and hammock are all names for transvaginal mesh.
The mesh is perforated to promote tissue ingrowth from the patient’s body. It’s meant to last a lifetime, and if problems emerge, it may not be possible to get rid of it.
What does pelvic mesh do, and why are women suing over it? – explainer
Transvaginal mesh is one of the most prevalent surgical treatments for pelvic floor disorders. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that mesh implantation may offer a substantial risk to patients, potentially placing them at risk for severe side effects such as surgical mesh infection and surgical mesh erosion into vaginal tissue.
Indeed, the FDA has said that transvaginal installation of surgical mesh for POP or SUI repair may pose higher risks than other surgical mesh procedures, with no evidence of superior benefit. If you had a mesh implant to repair POP and treat stress urinary incontinence and have subsequently encountered one or more serious adverse effects, speak with an expert transvaginal mesh attorney now to explore your legal options.
More and more women are coming out with stories about painful and debilitating transvaginal mesh complications, and thousands of mesh lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturers of vaginal mesh devices over life-altering negative effects. All of the transvaginal mesh cases allege the same thing: the manufacturers of surgical transvaginal mesh products are:
· Defective and unreasonably harmful equipment was designed, produced, and marketed.
· Inadequate study on the long-term impacts of transvaginal mesh
· Complications from women receiving transvaginal mesh repair of POP or SUI were concealed.
· Consumers and the medical community were not adequately warned about the purported danger of vaginal mesh’s adverse effects.
· Despite these hazards, they marketed its mesh as a safe and effective technology.
Difficulties with surgical vaginal mesh implants and devices were claimed to be uncommon. However, adverse event records revealed that thousands of women suffered from vaginal mesh complications such as mesh erosion and infection.
Mesh in Female pelvic reconstructive surgery
Mesh erosion occurs within 12 months of transvaginal mesh surgery for women. Vaginal mesh erosion is one of the most common consequences, according to the FDA, along with pelvic pain, infection, bleeding, pain during intercourse, organ perforation, and urine difficulties. Emotional issues, abnormal vaginal bleeding, scarring, and neurovascular muscle disorders have also been reported.
Many pelvic organ disorders need uncomfortable treatments, such as intense medical care, surgery, and hospitalization. Complications may require multiple surgeries, and certain medical conditions may be irreversible.
Transvaginal Mesh: What Women Should Know
Each use of transvaginal mesh has its own set of benefits and risks.
Surgical mesh via the vagina to treat pelvic organ prolapse has been associated with increased mesh-related complications such as pain during intercourse, mesh protrusion through the vaginal wall, and pelvic discomfort are among the issues. Maintain your normal care if you had mesh surgery.
When the surgical mesh is used to treat stress urinary incontinence or prolapse repair, there is a small possibility that you may experience secondary complications. The pelvic mesh may protrude through a surgical incision and into your vaginal canal. This is referred to as mesh exposure or erosion. Most women who experience erosion have no symptoms. Those with symptoms report spotting, discharge, or partner discomfort during intercourse. Serious issues are uncommon.
If you suffer mesh-related difficulties after your surgery, you may need to have the mesh removed again. Doctors may utilize a surgical process for cutting off the exposed section of mesh to help ease your discomfort. Alternatively, you may improve after using a particular vaginal cream your doctor prescribes.
Surgical Mesh: Uses and Complications in Women
Women suffering from urinary incontinence are often given surgical mesh as a remedy. A mesh constructed of synthetic materials or propylene is implanted to treat pelvic floor prolapse and incontinence.
The treatment seems non-invasive and straightforward on paper, but the statistics tell a very different picture. The transvaginal mesh technique has been scrutinized recently, and multiple lawsuits have been brought.
Common concerns were that it produced extreme pain and suffering, did not eliminate SUI despite being an expensive treatment, and caused nerve damage surrounding the bladder and urethra.
Other common adverse effects include infection, bleeding, discomfort during intercourse, and mesh exposure via the vagina. The FDA also noted vaginal scars.
Because of the severity of these adverse effects, many patients who had pelvic mesh implants prefer to have the procedure reversed. Fortunately, a surgery known as transvaginal mesh excision allows for this.
How does it work?
Both pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence are pelvic floor disorders that may be treated with surgical mesh.
Pelvic organ prolapse repair
There are two surgical options for correcting prolapse:
Surgery is performed via the abdomen. A surgeon may implant the surgical mesh devices to strengthen the compromised vaginal canal. Surgery may be performed via an incision in your stomach or through many smaller cuts. Surgical mesh may be used in any of these incisions.
The vaginal route is used for pelvic surgery sometimes. A surgeon might use a vaginal cut to repair the prolapse. However, this solution does not make use of mesh. Instead, the surgeon repairs the injured tissues using stitches, known as sutures. Using mesh in vaginal surgery to address pelvic organ prolapse is no longer an option. If you have this problem, you should not have mesh put in via a vaginal cut. The mesh may increase your chances of complications after surgery.
Stress urinary incontinence surgery
When there is pressure on the bladder, this condition causes urine to leak. Coughing, sneezing, jogging, or heavy lifting are all examples.
Mesh surgery may be able to assist. Mesh slings may be implanted via a vaginal incision by surgeons. They may also do the procedure via two tiny incisions in the lower stomach, slightly above the pubic bone. The mesh sling supports the urethra, or tube transporting pee from the body. This is referred to as a mid-urethral sling or mesh sling technique.
Is the surgery reversible?
Thousands of women who had the operation had their surgical mesh implants removed. Most women who had transvaginal mesh implants usually decide to have the treatment reversed.
New research published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that at least 3.3% of mesh surgeries are reversed after at least nine years. The study looked at 95,057 women with mesh placement to address stress urinary incontinence.
Transvaginal mesh removal is a tricky, technical surgical surgery requiring a highly experienced surgeon.
Additional surgery may be required in certain situations to address the initial prolapse or any other major issues induced by the mesh.
Surgical mesh is considered a permanent implant and often results in tissue developing around the mesh, implying that it can only be removed partly. Removing the mesh without injuring the surrounding tissue and organs may be difficult.
